tDCS Combined With Therapeutic Exercise in Fibromyalgia Patients

NCT ID: NCT04050254

Last Updated: 2021-06-11

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

120 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-09-02

Study Completion Date

2020-03-27

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to assess the effects on pain of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with therapeutic exercise in fibromyalgia patients.

Detailed Description

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Fibromyalgia is one of the rheumatic diseases with the greatest impact on the quality of life, whose etiology and pathophysiology is not yet fully demonstrated. Perhaps this is why its therapeutic approach is refractory to current treatments.

Based on the theory that fibromyalgia is characterized by a sensitization at the level of the central nervous system that leads to an increase in the perception of pain, any therapeutic approach aimed at modulating the central nervous system may be beneficial. Electrical stimulation with transcranial direct current (tDCS) is among these techniques.

In the same way, therapeutic exercise has shown to have, like the tDCS, a beneficial effect on pain in different chronic pathologies.

The present study aims to investigate the effect on pain of a combination therapy of tDCS and therapeutic exercise in patients with fibromyalgia.

Conditions

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Fibromyalgia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

TRIPLE

Participants Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Real tDCS + exercise

Transcranial direct current stimulation combined with therapeutic exercise

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Real tDCS

Intervention Type DEVICE

Real tDCS (STARTSTIM® 8 stimulator, Neuroelectric Barcelona, Spain) for five sessions on alternate days.tDCS is a galvanic current applied by a cap for 20 minutes at an intensity of 2 milliamps.

Therapeutic exercise

Intervention Type DEVICE

The therapeutic exercise program will include aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening for five sessions on alternate days. The program will include exercises and will last 30-45 minutes.

Sham tDCS + exercise

Sham transcranial direct current stimulation combined with therapeutic exercise

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

Sham tDCS

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham current (STARSTIM® 8 stimulator, Neuroelectric Barcelona, Spain) for five sessions on alternate days. Sham tDCS will be applied for the same time than real tDCS.

Therapeutic exercise

Intervention Type DEVICE

The therapeutic exercise program will include aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening for five sessions on alternate days. The program will include exercises and will last 30-45 minutes.

Control

No treatment.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Real tDCS

Real tDCS (STARTSTIM® 8 stimulator, Neuroelectric Barcelona, Spain) for five sessions on alternate days.tDCS is a galvanic current applied by a cap for 20 minutes at an intensity of 2 milliamps.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham tDCS

Sham current (STARSTIM® 8 stimulator, Neuroelectric Barcelona, Spain) for five sessions on alternate days. Sham tDCS will be applied for the same time than real tDCS.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Therapeutic exercise

The therapeutic exercise program will include aerobic exercise and muscle strengthening for five sessions on alternate days. The program will include exercises and will last 30-45 minutes.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age between 18 and 65 years.
* Fulfilled the 2010 American Colleague of Rheumatology criteria for fibromyalgia.
* Normal pain intensity of 4 or more points on a visual analog scale.
* Able to participated in a therapeutic exercise program.
* Understanding of spoken and written Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria

* Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
* Metallic implants in the head.
* Tumor, trauma or surgery in the brain.
* Epilepsy or stroke.
* History of substance abuse in the last 6 months.
* Use of carbamazepine in the last 6 months.
* Severe depression (Beck Depression Index II of 29 or more).
* Diagnosed psychiatric pathology.
* Rheumatic pathology not medically controlled.
* Coexisting autoimmune pathology.
* Chronic inflammatory disease (rheumatoid arthritis, erythematosus systemic lupus, inflammatory bowel disease).
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Castilla-La Mancha

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

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Hospital General Nuestra Señora del Prado

Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Spain

Site Status

Countries

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Spain

References

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Arroyo-Fernandez R, Avendano-Coy J, Velasco-Velasco R, Palomo-Carrion R, Bravo-Esteban E, Ferri-Morales A. Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Combined With Exercising in People With Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2022 Aug;103(8):1524-1532. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2022.02.020. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 35331718 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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tDCS+ET-Fibromyalgia

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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